Twenty-seven special rally trains are carrying thousands of supporters of Union Minister of Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janashakti Party to Patna to participate in the party's Sankalp rally on Wednesday afteroon.

The 27 special rally trains are ferrying supporters to the rally from different parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.

LJP spokesperson Sanjay Singh told rediff.com that special trains arrived in Patna with LJP workers, leaders and supporters to attend the rally. "The LJP paid a hefty amount to the railways for these special trains," he said.

Danapur Divisional Railway Manager B D Garg said the railways have made elaborate arrangements this time to cope with the rush of rally passengers at different stations. Several senior railway officials have been deputed to supervise the arrangements for the special rally trains. Hundreds of additional railway officials, including station masters and traffic inspectors, have been deployed to ensure the smooth and timely running of the special trains.

Recently, Lalu's RJD had booked 35 special trains to ferry its supporters to attend the Chetavni rally in Patna on October 28. A senior railway official said that that was the maximum number of trains ever booked for any political function in India. "There is no record of more than 20 special trains being booked for any rally in the past," he said.